Each of us receives a huge amount of emails every day: marketing, spam, notifications or something else. Naturally, companies strive to keep their customers up to date with the latest news. But the sheer volume of emails means that recipients are opening and reading them less and less.
Companies have a way to track who opens and reads their emails - the email tracking pixel. While email tracking pixels go unnoticed by most people, many companies use them to measure user engagement with advertising and marketing campaigns.
Let's take a look at how the email tracking pixel works.
Email Tracking Pixel Basics
An email tracking pixel is usually a 1-by-1 pixel image inserted into an email and hidden from the recipient. Such images are usually transparent and are presented as .gif or .png files.
Pixels can be inserted anywhere in an email, but most often they are found in the header or footer.
The tracker records whether a pixel was loaded in an email. For this purpose, all media other than text must be uploaded to the email so that the pixel can also be uploaded.
Tracking pixels are very common in marketing as many companies want to see if users are reading their bulk emails. Pixels are usually not used in individual or personal emails, although there are no barriers to this.
Typically, these pixels are inserted using a marketing or sales email address that allows certain interaction statistics such as clicks and views to be collected. It is also possible to add a tracking pixel manually, but then the process will take longer.
What exactly are email pixels tracking?
Tracking pixels are often used for marketing purposes. Most legitimate companies only use pixels to access information directly related to their business.
Companies use tracking pixels to see how many people opened a particular email from a mass mailing to gauge how interesting or “clickable” an ad offer actually is. A feature like this helps companies improve their marketing tactics.
These pixels can also indicate where in the world the majority of people open emails are, allowing businesses to target that demographic or nationality or figure out how to expand their reach beyond specific groups.
The tracking pixel also lets you see if a user opens a brand's website using HTML coding of the email and the type of email provider the recipient is using.
On the other hand, attackers can also take advantage of the tracking pixels' capabilities for unethical purposes. Cybercriminals without user permission can gain access to a large amount of information, including the IP addresses of the recipients.
The dark side of tracking pixels
Most of the technologies available to the general public at some point start to be used for malicious purposes.
Tracking pixels are used by fraudsters to check how quickly malware spreads across the network.
Hackers, intruders, and penetration testers use tracking pixels to gather information about the target network. By tracking the tracking pixel, an attacker improves understanding of the network infrastructure.
Criminals also use tracking pixels as part of a phishing campaign to track which users open malicious emails.
Plus, tracking pixels are very easy to use. There are many resources on the Internet that popularly explain how to insert tracking pixels, and the process itself is not overly complicated. Basically, you don't need to be a technical genius to use the tracking pixel.
Since tracking pixels are easy to use, we recommend that you take a few steps to protect yourself and your privacy.
How to prevent email tracking pixels from spying on you
The unethical side of tracking pixels is certainly a concern. So, if you are worried about accessing your personal information for malicious purposes, there are ways to stop pixel tracking.
The easiest way is to turn off automatic image uploads in your email settings. Gmail users can do this using the instructions below.
In Gmail, click the gear icon in the upper right corner to open Settings, then select View All Settings. Scroll down and find “images,” then switch between the two options to turn off external images.
Disabling this option prevents the tracking pixel from loading, it now has no way to access any information.
Many browsers also offer free extensions that automatically alert you when the tracking pixel is used on your device. These extensions analyze your emails to detect the presence of tracking pixels.
Tracking pixels are widespread but usually harmless
While tracking pixels can be a concern, they are mostly harmless. Most companies just use tracking pixels for marketing purposes and nothing more.
So don't worry too much about pixel tracking, as gathering basic information is the norm these days (whether we like it or not). For example, when registering for an account in an online store, you are usually asked to provide your email, phone number, address, and more. Indeed, nothing new.
However, it doesn't hurt to be careful. Cybercriminals can use pixel tracking for malicious purposes. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the safety tips above. Indeed, in the case of using technology, it is better to play it safe than to regret later.
A source
Companies have a way to track who opens and reads their emails - the email tracking pixel. While email tracking pixels go unnoticed by most people, many companies use them to measure user engagement with advertising and marketing campaigns.
Let's take a look at how the email tracking pixel works.
Email Tracking Pixel Basics
An email tracking pixel is usually a 1-by-1 pixel image inserted into an email and hidden from the recipient. Such images are usually transparent and are presented as .gif or .png files.
Pixels can be inserted anywhere in an email, but most often they are found in the header or footer.
The tracker records whether a pixel was loaded in an email. For this purpose, all media other than text must be uploaded to the email so that the pixel can also be uploaded.
Tracking pixels are very common in marketing as many companies want to see if users are reading their bulk emails. Pixels are usually not used in individual or personal emails, although there are no barriers to this.
Typically, these pixels are inserted using a marketing or sales email address that allows certain interaction statistics such as clicks and views to be collected. It is also possible to add a tracking pixel manually, but then the process will take longer.
What exactly are email pixels tracking?
Tracking pixels are often used for marketing purposes. Most legitimate companies only use pixels to access information directly related to their business.
Companies use tracking pixels to see how many people opened a particular email from a mass mailing to gauge how interesting or “clickable” an ad offer actually is. A feature like this helps companies improve their marketing tactics.
These pixels can also indicate where in the world the majority of people open emails are, allowing businesses to target that demographic or nationality or figure out how to expand their reach beyond specific groups.
The tracking pixel also lets you see if a user opens a brand's website using HTML coding of the email and the type of email provider the recipient is using.
On the other hand, attackers can also take advantage of the tracking pixels' capabilities for unethical purposes. Cybercriminals without user permission can gain access to a large amount of information, including the IP addresses of the recipients.
The dark side of tracking pixels
Most of the technologies available to the general public at some point start to be used for malicious purposes.
Tracking pixels are used by fraudsters to check how quickly malware spreads across the network.
Hackers, intruders, and penetration testers use tracking pixels to gather information about the target network. By tracking the tracking pixel, an attacker improves understanding of the network infrastructure.
Criminals also use tracking pixels as part of a phishing campaign to track which users open malicious emails.
Plus, tracking pixels are very easy to use. There are many resources on the Internet that popularly explain how to insert tracking pixels, and the process itself is not overly complicated. Basically, you don't need to be a technical genius to use the tracking pixel.
Since tracking pixels are easy to use, we recommend that you take a few steps to protect yourself and your privacy.
How to prevent email tracking pixels from spying on you
The unethical side of tracking pixels is certainly a concern. So, if you are worried about accessing your personal information for malicious purposes, there are ways to stop pixel tracking.
The easiest way is to turn off automatic image uploads in your email settings. Gmail users can do this using the instructions below.
In Gmail, click the gear icon in the upper right corner to open Settings, then select View All Settings. Scroll down and find “images,” then switch between the two options to turn off external images.
Disabling this option prevents the tracking pixel from loading, it now has no way to access any information.
Many browsers also offer free extensions that automatically alert you when the tracking pixel is used on your device. These extensions analyze your emails to detect the presence of tracking pixels.
Tracking pixels are widespread but usually harmless
While tracking pixels can be a concern, they are mostly harmless. Most companies just use tracking pixels for marketing purposes and nothing more.
So don't worry too much about pixel tracking, as gathering basic information is the norm these days (whether we like it or not). For example, when registering for an account in an online store, you are usually asked to provide your email, phone number, address, and more. Indeed, nothing new.
However, it doesn't hurt to be careful. Cybercriminals can use pixel tracking for malicious purposes. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the safety tips above. Indeed, in the case of using technology, it is better to play it safe than to regret later.
A source
